The Freedom Writers Diary - Erin Gruwell [72]
At first I didn’t understand why Ms. G wanted us to go to Washington so badly. But now that we’re in our nation’s capital, it hit me! I will never be the same! I finally realized what being a Freedom Writer really means. Everyone was standing around the monument reading the passages on the wall. We all wanted to know what each passage meant, when it was written, and who wrote it.
After that I heard a small voice excitingly yell, “It’s time to go back outside in the rain.” I knew Ms. G was up to something, because she’s always trying to do something spontaneous that has some kind of symbolism in it. This time, it would be the most symbolic of all. We went outside and stood on the stairs of the monument and held hands facing the city, facing the world.
To think that Dr. Martin Luther King recited his famous “I Have a Dream” speech here where he dreamt that someday “little black children and little white children…will come together.” Ironically, when I looked at the Freedom Writers holding hands in the rain, I realized that we are his dream come true. Then all of a sudden, one, two, three, we screamed “Freedom Writers have a dream!” The rain stopped and the sound of our voices echoed across the city!
Diary 83
Dear Diary,
As I walked with my group down Pennsylvania Avenue, my eyes filled up with excitement, my lips followed what I saw with a smile, and my heart was full of enjoyment to be in a city that is so different than Long Beach. At that moment I felt as if I had entered a place were violence and hate did not exist. But in a few seconds that safe feeling would be all taken away…
“Damn! Check out this swastika, can you believe it? Just blocks away from the White House and the Holocaust Museum.” “Look, there goes another one on that wall,” I overheard as we walked down Pennsylvania Avenue. Those feelings I had within me were now found at the tips of my toes. I knew those symbols meant hatred and represented Nazi organizations. My judgment about Washington being perfect was wrong. I guess I kind of judged it for its cover.
Anyone can cover up the swastika with paint; but then again another idiot would probably come back and spray it again. I know from experience. It’s sad to say that I once was much like this idiot that sprays on walls, but had different causes. We both destroyed property, but what was being sprayed was way different. The swastika he sprayed is a symbol of hatred. I used to hit up streets with a spray can to get name recognition, not spread hatred.
Early the next morning at my breakfast table my homie and I knew something had to be done. Then we both made up a Freedom Writers logo. So the next time we saw a swastika spray painted on a wall or newspaper stand we could represent ourselves, the Freedom Writers, without destroying property. I then took the logo we came up with to the hotel concierge and asked if he would be nice enough to make several copies of it. I also asked if he would be willing to give us masking tape to tape our logos and not destroy outside property. Then we left the hotel armed with logos and tape in our hands. We attacked the first swastika we saw on the streets. Everyone joined in and surrounded the symbol. Once we had covered it up with our logo, everyone filled up with joy and started to clap. Once again my eyes filled with excitement, my lips followed what I saw with a smile, and my heart filled up once again with enjoyment because we had made a difference and I felt safe again.
Diary 84
Dear Diary,
We took a trip to the Holocaust Museum today. Inside the museum, many memories from my past resurfaced. We sat in a room to watch a movie on how Jewish people were treated during the Holocaust. They were beaten, starved, and forced to watch their loved ones killed before their own eyes by